1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to farm buildings and more specifically to a system of flush gutters for a swine building.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Swine buildings have long been equipped with a means for collecting wastes. The oldest and most prevalent means is simply a large pit underneath the floor of the swine building in which the wastes accumulate until their removal by the farm personnel either manually or by mechanical means. More recently, a system of gutters has been provided to channel the wastes to a central location for processing or use as fertilizer.
A recent development in gutter systems is described in the Apr. 15, 1979 issue of National Hog Farmer, pages 48-51.
The gutter systems commercially available embodying this recent development have either been of a plastic or fiberglas type material or have consisted of concrete gutters poured in place within the enclosure formed by the foundation walls of the swine building. The plastic or fiberglas gutters require a great deal of labor for their construction and have a guestionable life span due to the corrosive nature of wastes to be carried in the gutters. Additionally, the plastic or fiberglas gutters require metallic or other heavy and strong supports and require the area around the gutters to be back-filled with dirt for further support, thereby increasing the cost and time involved in installing the gutter system.
The concrete gutters which are poured in place require trenches to be dug for the placement of forms or at least extensive forms since a whole gutter row having a length of thirty to fifty feet must be poured at one time. Because of the labor, time and expense involved with each of these forms, usually only one row is poured at a time, requiring at least twenty-four hours between gutter rows, depending on the weather. Thus, construction of these concrete gutter systems can take a couple of weeks since more than a dozen gutters may be required in each building. Although these gutters can withstand the caustic nature of the wastes involved, since the gutters are poured in an upright position, the upper surface of the gutter is rough due to settling causing surface imperfections which form during the process of pouring concrete and allowing it to set. These surface imperfections cause waste material to accumulate on the side walls of the gutters, interfering with the collection of the waste and require periodic cleaning by farm personnel.
Prior attempts at solving the problem of surface imperfections have included providing a plastic or fiberglas liner on the interior sloped walls of the gutters retained either by glue, screws or bolts. Even these fastening methods develop problems and the covering sheets come loose. Another proposed solution is to use a manure-resistant paint on the concrete to give it a slippery feel. The added expenses involved in each of these methods plus the increased labor required makes these solutions undesirable.